A liquid crystal display apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as “LCD”) is a device for displaying characters and images, using electrooptical properties of liquid crystal molecules, and has been widely used for cell phones, notebook computers, liquid crystal televisions, and the like. The LCD generally uses a liquid crystal panel, in which polarizing plates are arranged on both sides of a liquid crystal cell, and can display a black image under no voltage application, for example, in a normally black mode (e.g., see Patent Document 1). Recently, as the definition of the LCD has been increased, and the range of applications thereof has been enlarged, there is a demand for a thin polarizing plate exhibiting a high contrast ratio, capable of drawing characters and images more clearly.
Patent Document 1: JP 9-269504 A